Scott Israel

Scott Israel (1957-) was the Sheriff of Broward County, Florida as of 2018, when the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting occurred. Israel notably criticized the National Rifle Association in the aftermath of the massacre, calling for stricter gun control.

Biography
Scott Israel was born in New York City, New York in 1957, the son of a homicide detective. He began his career as a patrol officer for the Fort Lauderdale police department in 1979, later working in narcotics in the 1980s and 1990s, when crime was rampant. He served a stint as a SWAT commander and was North Bay Village chief of police from 2004 to 2008, later running for sheriff in 2008 and 2012. Israel - who had been a member of the Republican Party - now ran as a Democratic Party member, and he was elected in 2012 and easily re-elected in 2016. In February 2018, following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Israel supported deputies guarding Broward County schools being equipped with AR-15 assault rifles; he was historically known for supporting body cameras for policemen.